EP0545234B1 - Procédé micromécanique de structuration d'une couche polymérique d'alignement - Google Patents

Procédé micromécanique de structuration d'une couche polymérique d'alignement Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0545234B1
EP0545234B1 EP92120023A EP92120023A EP0545234B1 EP 0545234 B1 EP0545234 B1 EP 0545234B1 EP 92120023 A EP92120023 A EP 92120023A EP 92120023 A EP92120023 A EP 92120023A EP 0545234 B1 EP0545234 B1 EP 0545234B1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
liquid crystal
orientation
structuring
light
oriented
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP92120023A
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German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP0545234A1 (fr
Inventor
Jürg FÜNFSCHILLING
Peter Grütter
Hans-Josef Hug
Thomas Jung
Udo Schwarz
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Rolic Technologies Ltd
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F Hoffmann La Roche AG
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Publication of EP0545234A1 publication Critical patent/EP0545234A1/fr
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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02F—OPTICAL DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF LIGHT BY MODIFICATION OF THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIA OF THE ELEMENTS INVOLVED THEREIN; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; FREQUENCY-CHANGING OF LIGHT; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS
    • G02F1/00—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics
    • G02F1/01—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour 
    • G02F1/13—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour  based on liquid crystals, e.g. single liquid crystal display cells
    • G02F1/133—Constructional arrangements; Operation of liquid crystal cells; Circuit arrangements
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02F—OPTICAL DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF LIGHT BY MODIFICATION OF THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIA OF THE ELEMENTS INVOLVED THEREIN; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; FREQUENCY-CHANGING OF LIGHT; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS
    • G02F1/00—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics
    • G02F1/01—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour 
    • G02F1/13—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour  based on liquid crystals, e.g. single liquid crystal display cells
    • G02F1/133—Constructional arrangements; Operation of liquid crystal cells; Circuit arrangements
    • G02F1/1333—Constructional arrangements; Manufacturing methods
    • G02F1/1337—Surface-induced orientation of the liquid crystal molecules, e.g. by alignment layers
    • G02F1/13378—Surface-induced orientation of the liquid crystal molecules, e.g. by alignment layers by treatment of the surface, e.g. embossing, rubbing or light irradiation
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/10—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings of the optical waveguide type
    • G02B6/12—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings of the optical waveguide type of the integrated circuit kind
    • G02B6/122—Basic optical elements, e.g. light-guiding paths
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02F—OPTICAL DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF LIGHT BY MODIFICATION OF THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIA OF THE ELEMENTS INVOLVED THEREIN; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; FREQUENCY-CHANGING OF LIGHT; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS
    • G02F1/00—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics
    • G02F1/01—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour 
    • G02F1/13—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour  based on liquid crystals, e.g. single liquid crystal display cells
    • G02F1/1326—Liquid crystal optical waveguides or liquid crystal cells specially adapted for gating or modulating between optical waveguides

Definitions

  • the invention relates to a micromechanical method for structuring a polymer orientation layer, which is located on a plate and is oriented in a preferred direction by rubbing.
  • fine structures surface structures or volume expansions in the order of magnitude of 0.1 to approximately 100 ⁇ m are referred to as fine structures.
  • a liquid crystal cell is known in which one of the two plates has areas that adjoin Orient liquid crystal molecules in different preferred directions. Thus there are areas in which the liquid crystal molecules are oriented differently than in the rest of the liquid crystal layer.
  • the areas of the orientation layer can be structured by stamping.
  • liquid crystal cells are known in which strip-shaped light guides are formed.
  • the light propagation thus takes place parallel to the plates delimiting the liquid crystal layer.
  • the light conduction on both sides of the strip is caused by the difference in the refractive indices between the differently oriented volume regions of the liquid crystal and on the underside by the lower refractive index of the glass.
  • the micromechanical structuring is characterized in that the polymer layer mentioned at the outset, after it has been oriented by rubbing in a preferred direction, then at least one surface area of the oriented polymer layer, of which at least one side dimension is in the order of magnitude from 0.1 to approximately 100 ⁇ m is mechanically provided by means of a piezoelectrically moved writing tip with a structure of mutually parallel depressions.
  • Orientation patterns produced with this method can be used, for example, to produce liquid crystal cells in which patterns from areas with different preferred orientations, patterns from areas with and without preferred orientation, or patterns from areas with different twisting, i.e. also patterns from TN and STN areas, are realized .
  • light guides can also be implemented in a relatively simple manner.
  • the prerequisite for light conduction total reflection at the edge surfaces of the light guide that is, that these edge surfaces by a Characterize the change in the refractive index from a higher value inside the light guide to a lower value outside the same.
  • Liquid crystals have properties that are interesting for the production of light guide structures: they have a high optical anisotropy, their orientation can be controlled by boundary conditions, and they show enormous electro-optical effects in quasi-static operation. Some newly developed ferroelectric liquid crystals also have a large optical non-linearity. Furthermore, thin layers can be easily produced with liquid crystals.
  • the liquid crystal cell shown in FIG. 1 consists of two parallel, spaced-apart glass plates 1, 4.
  • the lower glass plate 1 is provided with an ITO electrode coating 2, which is covered with an orientation layer 3 made of a polymer.
  • the upper glass plate 4 is provided with an ITO electrode coating 5 and with a polymer orientation layer 6.
  • a nematic liquid crystal layer 7 is located in the space between the two plates.
  • the majority of the surface of the polymer layer 3 has a surface structuring 8 which orients the adjacent molecules of the liquid crystal 7 in the direction indicated by the dashed lines 8.
  • the polymer layer 6 of the upper plate 4 has a surface structure 10 parallel to it.
  • the parallel orientation of the wall orientations of the two plates brings about in a manner known per se the uniform alignment of the entire liquid crystal 7. This structure of the liquid crystal is referred to as homogeneous or planar.
  • this liquid crystal layer which is oriented homogeneously in one direction, according to the invention there is now a strip with a width of a few microns of another orientation, which is produced according to the invention in the following way:
  • the polymer layer 3 is in one of the other surface is structured in different directions, for example at right angles to orientation 8.
  • the liquid crystal molecules adjoining this surface area 9 are aligned in this deviating direction by the wall orientation forces.
  • this deviating orientation extends into the liquid crystal volume.
  • the wall orientation on the opposite side, i.e. on the upper plate is not changed, that is parallel to the direction 8.
  • This strip-shaped region 11 acts as a light guide, the light being guided on both sides of the strip by the defined difference in the refractive indices between the differently oriented volume regions of the liquid crystal and on the underside by the lower refractive index of the glass.
  • the twisted molecular arrangement results in a refractive index gradient that is responsible for the light guidance.
  • the light guidance through the glass plate also has an effect at the top.
  • the polymer layer of the upper plate 4 with a different fine structure corresponding to the surface 9. If the two opposing, finely structured surfaces have directions of orientation parallel to one another, the corresponding volume region 11 is aligned uniformly, i.e. uniaxial.
  • Another alternative is to provide the general wall orientation on one or both panels homeotropically instead of planar. Also the homeotropic molecular arrangement has a lower refractive index than the volume region 11.
  • the surface 9 is structured, for example, in the following manner with the device shown in FIG. 2.
  • the plate 1 the polymer layer 3 of which had previously been oriented by rubbing in the preferred direction 8, is arranged to be displaceable in the two directions indicated by the double arrows.
  • the stylus 14 is optionally set in motion in any desired direction.
  • the stylus can simply be pulled back and forth over the polymer layer 3 at right angles to the direction of movement of the plate 1, while the plate 1 is slowly moved in the direction of the existing orientation 8.
  • the pressing force of the stylus 14 can be controlled in a similar manner to that in the mentioned atomic force microscope.
  • the movement of the stylus 14 in contact with the polymer layer 3 effects its structuring, which can be thought of as fine line engraving, the lines running in the direction of movement of the stylus.
  • structuring can be thought of as fine line engraving
  • the lines running in the direction of movement of the stylus Depending on the speed at which the plate is moved, there is a larger or smaller line spacing, which is typically in the nm range.
  • the stylus 14 can also be moved at an angle ⁇ different from 90 ° for moving the plate 1 over the polymer layer, so that the structure lines run at this angle ⁇ for orientation 8.
  • This "oblique" structuring is useful, for example, when using S c material, the molecules of which are inclined to the wall orientation. Structuring at the corresponding angle results in an exactly transverse molecular alignment in the volume region 11.
  • the refractive index of the liquid crystal can be varied by deliberately tilting the molecules in the volume region 11. This is useful, for example, for phase matching in frequency doubling applications.
  • the tilting angle of the liquid crystal molecules can also be influenced by the structuring. If all lines are drawn by the pen 14 in the same direction, by only touching the surface of the pen in one direction and lifting it for the backward movement, a line structure results which causes the molecules to tilt.
  • the light can be coupled into the light-conducting volume region in a manner known per se by means of an interference grating (not shown). This also applies to decoupling the light.
  • Such grids can also be generated with a stylus by suitable selection of the parameters for the structuring. The well-known embossing of grids is also suitable.
  • ferroelectric liquid crystals can advantageously also be used. Static or electro-optically slower components are obtained with nematic liquid crystals. Ferroelectric liquid crystals are particularly suitable for fast electro-optical switching operations, in particular those with high optical non-linearity, which are frozen in glass form at room temperature.
  • the electrode layers 2, 5 on the two plates 1, 4 can be segmented in a suitable manner depending on the application of the cells.
  • the principle described can also be used to manufacture more complicated structures such as Mach-Zehnder interferometers.
  • In combination with the Large electro-optical effects in liquid crystals then open the way to integrated optics with complex switching networks.
  • the fine structuring according to the invention can also be used for the production of liquid crystal display cells, as are similarly described in the aforementioned Swiss patent application 2246/91 of July 26, 1991.
  • a cell similar to that described there, with volume regions with different molecular configurations arranged next to one another in a checkerboard manner can advantageously be produced using the method according to the invention.
  • the polymer layer 3 of the plate 1 is provided with surface areas arranged in a checkerboard manner and structured micromechanically with different orientation directions.
  • the opposite plate can either be structured in the same way or treated in such a way that it orientates the liquid crystal homeotropically. Due to this wall orientation (s), the liquid crystal has correspondingly differently oriented volume ranges.
  • a liquid crystal configured in this way, provided the dimensions of the individual surfaces are in the range of the light wavelength, scatters the incident light and is therefore opaque. If an electric field is applied, the liquid crystal molecules are erected and let the light through. The result is a simple electro-optical switch.
  • this cell behaves similarly to the first commercially available cells from the early days of liquid crystal technology, which were based on the effect of dynamic scattering (DS). Like this, the present cell does not need polarizers. In contrast to the DS cell, the present cell is based on a real field effect with all the advantages in terms of power consumption, service life etc.
  • DS dynamic scattering
  • control electrodes Provided with a suitable segmentation of the control electrodes, such cells are well suited for projection purposes.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Nonlinear Science (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Optics & Photonics (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Crystallography & Structural Chemistry (AREA)
  • Mathematical Physics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
  • Spectroscopy & Molecular Physics (AREA)
  • Liquid Crystal (AREA)

Claims (1)

  1. Procédé pour la structuration micromécanique d'une couche de polymère d'orientation qui se trouve sur une plaque, dans lequel on oriente d'abord une couche de polymère par frottement dans une direction préférentielle, caractérisé en ce qu'ensuite au moins une zone de la surface de la couche de polymère orientée, présentant au moins une extension latérale de l'ordre de grandeur de 0,1 à environ 100 µm, est munie mécaniquement, au moyen d'une pointe d'écriture mue de manière piézoélectrique, d'une structure de cavités parallèles entre elles.
EP92120023A 1991-12-05 1992-11-25 Procédé micromécanique de structuration d'une couche polymérique d'alignement Expired - Lifetime EP0545234B1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CH3570/91 1991-12-05
CH357091 1991-12-05

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0545234A1 EP0545234A1 (fr) 1993-06-09
EP0545234B1 true EP0545234B1 (fr) 1996-02-14

Family

ID=4258847

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP92120023A Expired - Lifetime EP0545234B1 (fr) 1991-12-05 1992-11-25 Procédé micromécanique de structuration d'une couche polymérique d'alignement

Country Status (6)

Country Link
US (1) US6271906B1 (fr)
EP (1) EP0545234B1 (fr)
JP (1) JP2839173B2 (fr)
KR (1) KR100359002B1 (fr)
DE (1) DE59205351D1 (fr)
HK (1) HK182896A (fr)

Families Citing this family (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5903330A (en) * 1995-10-31 1999-05-11 Rolic Ag Optical component with plural orientation layers on the same substrate wherein the surfaces of the orientation layers have different patterns and direction
GB9928126D0 (en) 1999-11-30 2000-01-26 Secr Defence Bistable nematic liquid crystal device
ITMI20012075A1 (it) * 2001-10-08 2003-04-08 Consiglio Nazionale Ricerche Procedimento per il conferimento e controllo su scale micro e nanomatriche dell'anisotropia di proprieta' strutturali elettriche ottiche ed
EP2209027A1 (fr) * 2002-02-13 2010-07-21 MERCK PATENT GmbH Marquage de sécurité comprenant un film polymère anisotropique sur un substrat avec une surface structurée
DE60332784D1 (de) 2002-02-13 2010-07-15 Merck Patent Gmbh Verfahren zur Herstellung von einem anisotropen Polymerfilm auf einem Substrat mit einer strukturierten Oberfläche
DE102004018702B4 (de) 2004-04-17 2006-05-24 Leonhard Kurz Gmbh & Co. Kg Folie mit Polymerschicht
CN101464598B (zh) * 2007-12-21 2010-10-06 比亚迪股份有限公司 一种改善液晶显示屏制造中摩擦效果的处理方法

Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0249311A1 (fr) * 1986-04-04 1987-12-16 BRITISH TELECOMMUNICATIONS public limited company Dispositifs optiques à cristal liquide

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US3963310A (en) * 1973-08-20 1976-06-15 The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Navy Liquid crystal waveguide
US3966304A (en) 1973-08-20 1976-06-29 Asahi Kogaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha Liquid crystal display device
JPS542580B2 (fr) * 1974-07-01 1979-02-09
JPS51115846A (en) * 1975-04-03 1976-10-12 Seiko Instr & Electronics Ltd Orientation processing method and device for liquid crystal panel
JPS5638923A (en) * 1979-09-05 1981-04-14 Hitachi Ltd Power malfunction detector
JPS57192926A (en) 1981-05-25 1982-11-27 Seiko Epson Corp Liquid crystal display device and its orientation processing method
DE3234074A1 (de) * 1982-09-14 1984-03-15 Siemens AG, 1000 Berlin und 8000 München Fluessigkristallzelle und ihre verwendung
JPS6151124A (ja) 1984-08-20 1986-03-13 Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd 液晶表示装置
JPS6151125A (ja) 1984-08-20 1986-03-13 Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd 液晶表示装置
JPH0685034B2 (ja) * 1985-09-12 1994-10-26 スタンレー電気株式会社 液晶表示装置
KR940008530B1 (ko) 1987-09-18 1994-09-22 가부시끼가이샤 한도 따이에네르기 겐꾸쇼 액정 전기 광학 장치
US4906074A (en) 1987-09-28 1990-03-06 Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd. FLC liquid crystal electro-optical device having microdomains within pixels
US4974941A (en) 1989-03-08 1990-12-04 Hercules Incorporated Process of aligning and realigning liquid crystal media
US5015850A (en) * 1989-06-20 1991-05-14 The Board Of Trustees Of The Leland Stanford Junior University Microfabricated microscope assembly
US5073294A (en) 1990-03-07 1991-12-17 Hercules Incorporated Process of preparing compositions having multiple oriented mesogens
US5150236A (en) 1990-08-31 1992-09-22 Bell Communications Research, Inc. Tunable liquid crystal etalon filter
US5182665A (en) 1990-09-07 1993-01-26 Displaytech, Inc. Diffractive light modulator
DE59208605D1 (de) 1991-07-26 1997-07-17 Hoffmann La Roche Flüssigkristallanzeigezelle
SG50596A1 (en) 1991-07-26 2001-01-16 Rolic Ag Photo-oriented polymer networks and method of their manufacture

Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0249311A1 (fr) * 1986-04-04 1987-12-16 BRITISH TELECOMMUNICATIONS public limited company Dispositifs optiques à cristal liquide

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
KR930013801A (ko) 1993-07-22
DE59205351D1 (de) 1996-03-28
US6271906B1 (en) 2001-08-07
EP0545234A1 (fr) 1993-06-09
JPH05273601A (ja) 1993-10-22
HK182896A (en) 1996-10-11
KR100359002B1 (ko) 2003-01-08
JP2839173B2 (ja) 1998-12-16

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